Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will receive expanded coverage and improved services as the Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) budget for 2026 increased by 34 percent.

At a Palace briefing on Monday, Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the DMW’s allocation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) rose to P11.745 billion from P8.76 billion last year.

“For the Office of the Secretary, we have P7.46 billion, an increase of 40 percent, coming up from P5.3 billion last year. Iyong OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) po natin, ganoon din po, nag-increase siya from PHP3.4 billion last year, ang (For our OWWA, it's the same, it increased from PHP3.4 billion last year, its GAA) for 2026 is P4.285 billion, an increase of 26 percent,” Olalia said.

He said the higher budget will strengthen social services for OFWs, including the Aksyon Fund, which provides financial, medical, legal, and repatriation assistance.

For the first time, the DMW allocated P2 billion for the Aksyon Fund, up from P1.2 billion last year.

Olalia said the fund assisted 160,769 OFWs in 2025, including financial aid for 27,661 beneficiaries, medical assistance for 1,085 cases, legal support for 6,780 cases, and repatriation assistance for 3,723 individuals affected by overseas scams, particularly in Cambodia and Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the OFW Hospital in Pampanga was upgraded to Level 2, with a total budget of P639 million, including P145 million for capital outlay. The hospital continues to implement a zero-billing policy for patients.

Olalia also said OWWA’s Emergency Repatriation program will receive P1.286 billion in 2026.

The “Alagang OWWA” caravans have assisted 63,161 OFWs and facilitated 145,807 transactions as of November 2025, mainly in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

He added that an OFW Caravan is currently underway in Dubai, led by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, and OWWA Chief Patricia Yvonne Caunan.